Why the smallest and most unknown beach in Lefkada became my favorite

I have been to Greece from begin­ning of August till mid Sep­tem­ber. The island I have spent most time on was Lefkada. It is called the white beauty and it is the fourth biggest island and one of the seven from the Ionian Sea. It lies between the islands of Corfu and Kefalo­nia and it is close to the shores of the west­ern main­land of Greece.

This is where it is:

I had the chance to see it by car from south to north, from west to east and back. This is how I came up with the thought, that from all the beaches I have seen, there arethese 7, I would take my friends to.

So let’s go to num­ber 1.

My favorite beach in Lefkada

No 1 : Krioneri Beach

Where is it: 2 km from Lefkada town on the west coast

Can you drive by car till the beach: NoHow much time you have to walk from the car: 10 minLength of the beach: 10 metersWith beach bars & sun beads: NoWith sand or peb­ble: sandDo you have shade on it: yesSuit­able for chil­dren: No

Good for snor­kel­ing: Yes, spec­tac­u­lar

I have dis­cov­ered Kri­oneri 2 days before I left the island. And I owe the dis­cov­ery to two Greek friends I met by chance. Here is the story:

It was Sep­tem­ber, the strong sum­mer heat was gone, the air was mere a breeze, won­der­fulfor all the senses, and I was plan­ning to sleep on the beach again. I knew I would return for another night under the stars, from the moment I slept there the first time. So, I was not wait­ing for the right moment. Instead, I just put my tent and sleep­ing bag in the trunk and took off for another day of beaches, unknown, new peo­ple, new hello’s and new see you again’s.

As the evening was set­ting in, I drove towards Pefk­ou­lia beach. The only beach in Lefkada that offi­cially allows wild camp­ing. It was pitch dark when I was look­ing for a spot to set the tent, but to my sur­prise, there were no other peo­ple in the camp­ing. It looked deserted and silent. The rain of the last days had scared every­body. But, I see a light and hear some voices and I head towards them to see who these peo­ple are. I then see a man and a woman, in their 50’s sur­rounded by can­dle light, drink­ing their teas and whis­per­ing as if they did not want to dis­turb the sea. I say hello and they are really happy to see there is another soul on that beach, just like I was. They invite me to join them and I do it gladly. So I take my beer and sit with them for hours until we were too tired to keep our eyes open. They were from Athens and came every sum­mer to Lefkada to this camp­ing and to some other places they loved. Kri­oneri Beach was one of them. When the lady said she would never leave Lefkada with­out see­ing this beach again, I knew it will be the first thing I want to see tomor­row. And I went.

To find it I went thought the scenic vil­lage of Agios Ioan­nis, with small and tav­erns, with turquoise waters and white sands. I arrived to the end of the road and was told I need to leave the car and walk from there. So I did. Walk­ing, I arrived to a church, very small though, built-in the rocks and fac­ing the sea. It was a place that invited the vis­i­tor to med­i­ta­tion. It was like, just pass­ing it by, would make you feel bet­ter. Then I started climb­ing up a small street to reach the only house around, which looked like a sanc­tu­ary, more like a royal res­i­dence. Hid­den in the woods and hav­ing the sea view all to itself. I went round it, on a path on the edge of the cliff, to find the stairs going to the small beach of Kri­oneri. I think this beach actu­ally belongs to this house, as it had its own stairs con­nect­ing it with its gar­den. But I was happy that, at least for now, ordi­nary peo­ple like me, can still have access to it.

The beach alone is small, maybe accom­mo­dates 5–6 peo­ple, not more. The sea has all shades of blue and when you get in for a swim, its cold at first, because of the sweet water springs that flow into the sea. But as you swim fur­ther, the warm cur­rents embrace you. So don’t be dis­cour­aged by the cold greet­ing the sea gives you. After all, “Kri­oneri” means ‘cold’.

If you are into snor­kel­ing you are going to be sur­prised, as this par­adise, not both­ered by tourists, has loads to offer.